KINGMAN – As Jimmy Wayman battled against his Cactus opponent Wednesday, he felt the pressure of a packed gym cheering for him. Wayman didn’t disappoint the fans as he pinned his opponent and went on to finish the meet with a 3-0 record.

“The home meet is a great experience,” Wayman said. “The spotlight is on you, but it’s motivation. I don’t think I would have been where I was if they weren’t here, honestly.”

Dylan Shaffer (170) and Edmond Ashton (285) also went undefeated during the Vols’ lone home meet of the season.

It wasn’t easy for Ashton though. The senior didn’t make official weigh-ins at the beginning of the season, so he has to wait until Dec. 30 to return to the 220-weight class. That isn’t stopping him and he proved that with his will to win.

“It feels great,” Ashton said. “Pinning the kid, getting the crowd going crazy just gets the motor in you going off of their adrenaline.”

Lee Williams started the meet with a 48-33 win over Cactus and that was exactly what head coach Dan Ondrejka wanted before facing region opponents Lake Havasu and Mohave.

However, the Vols didn’t fare well against Lake Havasu in a 54-27 loss.

“Havasu came ready to wrestle and they looked great,” Ondrejka said. “I knew it was going to be a competitive match, they wrestled tough and they came out on top.”

The final match of the day was much closer, as the Vols lost by three points, 42-39

“We matched up well, but they pulled out the win,” Ondrejka said. “This one came down to little mistakes.”

While Lee Williams finished 1-2 on the day, Ondrejka remained optimistic for a successful season.

“This was a great learning experience for a young group of guys,” he said. “It showed them how they need to step up in practice and how that will affect how we do in competition. We just have to keep our heads up, keep putting in the work and build from these losses. There is still a lot of wrestling to come this season.”